Firefighter Revived After Backcountry Cardiac Arrest

From: National Parks Traveler

The call for help from the backcountry at Rocky Mountain National Park early on Father's Day morning could have been a worst-case scenario: a firefighter on the Big Meadows Fire had collapsed due to a sudden cardiac arrest. The outcome is a testimony to excellent planning, training, communications and equipment.

Early on the morning of Sunday, June 16, Luther E. Larkin, Sr., 51, was walking with his crew from a field spike camp to the fireline when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Larkin is a senior crew member of the Horseshoe Meadow Type I Interagency Hotshots based out of Sequoia National Forest in California.

Members of the crew quickly began CPR and requested assistance. Paramedics assigned to the fire arrived within minutes and park dispatch requested an emergency medical helicopter, which was placed in "aerial standby" in the area.